News

Breaking news and publications from Direct Action Everywhere.

Media inquiry? Please email press@dxe.io.

Featured

All News

PRESS

Sonoma Rescue Trial Defense Can't Show Animal Cruelty Video

October 6, 2023

UnchainedTV

The judge in the Sonoma rescue trial of animal rights activist Wayne Hsiung has ruled against allowing him to show videos of suffering ducks and chickens to the jury.

Read More

PRESS

Sonoma Rescue Trial Defense Can't Show Animal Cruelty Video

October 6, 2023

UnchainedTV

Read More

PRESS

Activist Tells Sonoma County Jury He Committed No Crime; Sought Only to Help Animals

October 5, 2023

North Bay Business Journal

Hsiung told jurors Thursday the activists support transparency and their ultimate goal is to expose mistreatment of animals. “You cannot fight a shadow with more shadows. You fight a shadow with light,” he said.

Read More

PRESS

Activist Tells Sonoma County Jury He Committed No Crime; Sought Only to Help Animals

October 5, 2023

North Bay Business Journal

Read More

PRESS

Letter to the Editor: It’s Time to Confront Violence Toward Animals

October 4, 2023

The Daily Illini

Open rescue doesn’t just win legal victories — it raises larger societal questions about how animals ought to be treated. If animals have a right to be rescued, should we even allow them to be exploited or killed in the first place?

Read More

PRESS

Letter to the Editor: It’s Time to Confront Violence Toward Animals

October 4, 2023

The Daily Illini

Read More

PRESS

Activists Protest 4th Horse Death in Two Weeks at Golden Gate Fields

October 3, 2023

KTVU/Fox 2

"It's tragic, but it's not that surprising," [activist] Paul Darwin Picklesimer said. "The deaths are just simply inherent. No matter what they do, there are always going to be deaths."

Read More

PRESS

Activists Protest 4th Horse Death in Two Weeks at Golden Gate Fields

October 3, 2023

KTVU/Fox 2

Read More

BLOG

A Baby Chicken Taught Me to Never Give Up Hope. His Name is Vincent.

October 1, 2023

Read More

BLOG

A Baby Chicken Taught Me to Never Give Up Hope. His Name is Vincent.

October 1, 2023

To everyone who doesn’t believe in a better world, I understand. I feel your pain and I know how hard it is to keep going in a world as painful as ours. But, just a glimmer of hope saved Vincent’s life and it might just save the rest of the animals, too. So please, don’t give up.

Read More

PRESS

COURT WATCH: 2nd California Animal Rights Trial Involving ‘Open Rescue’ Ongoing in Santa Rosa

September 25, 2023

Davis Vanguard

Hsiung is proceeding to trial as his own attorney, facing multiple felony conspiracy charges for his involvement in mass protests where hundreds of activists openly rescued animals at factory farms in Sonoma County in 2018 and 2019.

Read More

PRESS

COURT WATCH: 2nd California Animal Rights Trial Involving ‘Open Rescue’ Ongoing in Santa Rosa

September 25, 2023

Davis Vanguard

Read More

PRESS

1 of 2 Activists Accused of Stealing Livestock from Petaluma Farms Reaches Deal

September 22, 2023

Press Democrat

Priya Sawhney pleaded no contest to two counts of trespassing and was ordered to do 100 hours of community service through the Sonoma County Volunteer Center.

Read More

PRESS

1 of 2 Activists Accused of Stealing Livestock from Petaluma Farms Reaches Deal

September 22, 2023

Press Democrat

Read More

PRESS

Radical Vegans Are Trying to Change Your Diet

September 20, 2023

The Atlantic

Everything, everywhere in this farm for “free-range” chickens was covered in excrement. The industrial hangar was so enormous, filled with so many clone-birds, that I felt like I was staring into an infinity mirror.

Read More

PRESS

Radical Vegans Are Trying to Change Your Diet

September 20, 2023

The Atlantic

Read More

PRESS

Gag Order on DxE Activists Upheld Despite Calls to Vacate from Berkeley Law Dean, ACLU

September 19, 2023

Daily Californian

"I hope that I’ll be able to testify to the sickness of the ducklings and the hens who are rescued,” [witness Zoe] Rosenberg said. “I think that’s essential information for the jury to hear, and I hope the judge allows that information to be heard.”

Read More

PRESS

Gag Order on DxE Activists Upheld Despite Calls to Vacate from Berkeley Law Dean, ACLU

September 19, 2023

Daily Californian

Read More

Our Top Press Hits

TOP PRESS

Trial Begins for Animal Activists Accused of Stealing Two Piglets from Utah Factory Farm

October 3, 2022

Fox 13 Salt Lake City

“They did a nonviolent action, and they saved the lives of two piglets who would have been discarded by the industry anyway.”

Read More

TOP PRESS

Standing Trial: Should we care about animal liberation?

September 19, 2022

Harper's Magazine

Most readers care about humans, not pigs. What gets us going is a compelling main character facing many years in prison, not several million pigs spending a lifetime in circumstances that make prison look comparatively relaxing.

Read More

TOP PRESS

Protests Are Wrong Until They’re Right

April 28, 2022

New York Magazine

Protests are often unpopular, but as this article shows, in the end, they tend to be right.

Read More

TOP PRESS

Amid Bird Flu Outbreak, Meat Producers Seek “Ventilation Shutdown” for Mass Chicken Killing

April 14, 2022

The Intercept

DxE documented video footage of the depopulation at Rembrandt Enterprises, demonstrating the brutal reality of VSD and the true toll of our broken "food" system.

Read More

TOP PRESS

My first job was slitting the throats of chickens at a slaughterhouse. It changed me forever

March 22, 2022

San Francisco Chronicle

Compelling testimony by a former slaughterhouse worker who is now a member of DxE's core organizing team.

Read More

TOP PRESS

Why the Anti-Factory Farming Movement Needs Direct Action

March 14, 2022

Current Affairs

DxE activists are showing that anyone can, if they give themselves permission, start creating the world they want to live in.

Read More

TOP PRESS

Animal Rights Activists Rescued Two Piglets From Slaughter. They Wanted to Get Caught.

February 23, 2022

The New Republic

DxE investigators are pressing for a trial they hope will go down as a pivotal moment in the history of the animal rights movement.

Read More

TOP PRESS

Prosecutors Silence Evidence of Cruel Factory Farm Practices in Animal Rights Cases

January 30, 2022

The Intercept

The government wants to keep juries from seeing gruesome evidence of animals in distress, demonstrating yet again the massive power corporations wield in our current system.

Read More

TOP PRESS

An animal rights activist was in court on criminal charges. Why was the case suddenly dismissed?

January 23, 2022

The Guardian

DxE's investigation of ventilation shutdown is probably the most important investigation in more than a decade, said Justin Marceau, an animal law scholar and professor at the University of Denver.

Read More

DxE's Blog

BLOG

If Rescuing a Suffering Animal Is a Crime, What Does That Make the System?

July 14, 2026

The prosecutorial viewpoint seems to be at odds with a growing public expectation that animals raised for food should not be left to suffer — and aggressive marketing (in this case, “humanewashing”) often deceives consumers into thinking they’re making the right purchasing choices.

Read More

BLOG

The Press Won't Link California's Elephant Seal Deaths to Factory Farms

May 28, 2026

The elephant seals at Año Nuevo are dying because they share beaches with infected seabirds — infected because H5N1 has become endemic in wild bird populations worldwide, a spread driven in significant part by the concentration and global trade of farmed poultry.

Read More

BLOG

“Make Sure It’s a F***ing Felony": What Happened at the Preliminary Hearing in the Meyenberg Rescue Case

May 20, 2026

Deputies testified that they never investigated the animal cruelty allegations at the dairy or referred them to any agency, despite being told about dead and suffering animals on site. One officer even defended the facility by claiming that “you can go to any dairy, anywhere in the country, and there will be dead goats there.”

Read More

BLOG

How Pepper Spray Can Save Puppies

April 22, 2026

Open rescue as a strategy is not just about getting a few animals out of their cages, it is also about creating a crisis that can no longer be ignored. It is about forcing the public and people in power to choose a side.

Read More

BLOG

An Open Letter Responding to Western United Dairies' Disinformation

March 19, 2026

The dairy industry trade group's CEO, Anja Raudabaugh, spread blatant lies about animal rights activists on a recent podcast discussing DxE's latest project, FactoryFarmWatch.org. This blog corrects the record and invites Ms. Raudabaugh to engage in an honest and transparent conversation.

Read More

BLOG

Exposing Big Ag with Factory Farm Watch

February 19, 2026

Factory Farm Watch is more than a map. It is a launchpad for statewide action to end factory farming.

Read More

BLOG

ALC India Was a Huge Success!

February 6, 2026

A summary of the first annual Animal Liberation Conference in India, co-hosted by DxE and Indore Animal Liberation

Read More

BLOG

An Open Letter to My Judge

January 4, 2026

I think the public has made it resoundingly clear that they feel Perdue should be prosecuted for its crimes. I hope you'll take that into consideration and use your power as a judge to do some good for these animals. 

Read More

BLOG

Zoe's Reflections on Animal Rising's Beagle Rescue Trial Verdict

December 18, 2025

No prosecution, conviction, or sentence, will ever stop a movement driven by compassion and care.

Read More

Our Press Releases

PRESS RELEASE

VIDEO: Activists Protest Petco to Demand End of Live Animals Sales, Following Exposé of Cruelty at Parakeet Breeding Mill

September 5, 2026

Protesters entered the store with signs reading “Someone Not Something” and “Stop Selling Animals,” as well as trash cans overflowing with plush parakeets, rubber snakes, and rubber mice to represent how Petco treats animals like trash, based on images from multiple recent investigations of breeders that sell to Petco.

Read More

PRESS RELEASE

Judge Reduces All Felonies to Misdemeanors in Goat Rescue Case

August 25, 2026

The ruling comes in response to a filing earlier this month detailing evidence of significant animal cruelty at the dairy. The judge also ordered that the District Attorney’s office disclose evidence of DA Sarah Hacker’s relationship with the owners of the dairy farm property involved in the prosecution against these animal rescuers.

Read More

PRESS RELEASE

VIDEO: Activists Protest Whole Foods Goat Milk Supplier’s Cruelty with Giant “Bloody” Milk Carton and “Die-In”

August 22, 2026

The protest featured a 10-foot-tall milk carton prop modeled after Meyenberg packaging, but with an image of the dead pile of goats documented at Meyenberg’s Vera Goat Dairy and with red streamers symbolizing the animals’ blood flowing out from the top of the carton.

Read More

PRESS RELEASE

Defense Submits Animal Cruelty Evidence in Goat Rescue Case

August 11, 2026

Today, defense attorneys for four goat rescuers charged in Kings County filed evidence with the court of animal cruelty at the Whole Foods-supplying goat dairy at the heart of the case. They have submitted a motion requesting that Judge Jim Trevino reduce the felony charges to misdemeanors.

Read More

PRESS RELEASE

VIDEO: Calves Kicked, Pulled at Merced County Calf Ranch Linked to Major Cheese Company

July 27, 2026

Factory farm investigators with Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) used drones to document cruel handling of calves at 140 Cattle Co., a calf-raising operation linked to Hilmar Cheese Company, one of the largest cheese producers in the U.S.

Read More

PRESS RELEASE

VIDEO: Activists Protest Petco for Selling Live Animals

July 18, 2026

Activists first protested silently next to the animals on display inside Petco in San Rafael, and then loudly outside the store, urging Petco to end the retail sale of animals at all locations.

Read More

PRESS RELEASE

LA's Upscale Grocery Chain Erewhon Drops Meyenberg Goat Milk Amidst Animal Cruelty Concerns

June 30, 2026

Direct Action Everywhere Los Angeles campaigned to urge the grocery chain to cut ties with Meyenberg, after the group’s investigation at a Meyenberg dairy exposed emaciated, ill goats and an illegal dead pile

Read More

PRESS RELEASE

VIDEO: Activists Disrupt Clover Ice Cream Truck at Petaluma Fair to Highlight Cruelty at Clover-Linked Calf Ranch

June 22, 2026

A DxE drone investigation released in May shows calves kicked in the face, yanked by their tails, and disbudded with hot irons at Agresti Calf Ranch in Stanislaus County. The facility is owned by the Agresti-Assali family which also owns the adjacent Clover Sonoma milk supplier Double D Dairies. DxE investigators witnessed calves from Double D Dairies being transported to Agresti Calf Ranch.

Read More

PRESS RELEASE

VIDEO: Activists Protest Petco for Selling Live Animals as Campaign Grows to Ban Retail Animal Sales

June 20, 2026

With Bay Area cities moving to ban the retail sale of animals, animal rights activists with Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) are turning up the pressure on one of the Bay’s biggest pet retailers: Petco. Dozens of activists with DxE, PETA, and other groups protested inside and outside Petco in San Mateo Saturday afternoon.

Read More